inspiration

For many years I wore a string of prayer beads on my left wrist, to act as a reminder of the important and powerful practice of gratitude. There were 27 beads and each morning upon awakening, I would touch a bead and be grateful for something -- my kids, my health, the antics of our small zoo of animals. Most mornings the first dozen things would come easily, but often the last ten were more of a stretch -- chocolate, cappuccino, my silk dressing robe. It always, always felt good to start my day reflecting upon abundance.

As we race breathlessly through January, energized by our resolutions, we may find ourselves sliding rather rapidly into February. Where did the month go? More importantly where are we in relation to all those resolutions? You know, the fitness programme, the commitment to eat no sugar, the giant wall of sticky notes promising more productivity.

As a champion of change and personal development, I love the New Year. As the calendar turns, I am filled with excitement of all the new things I want to accomplish and some of the things I am ready to let go of. I keep a list. This is very unlike me. I am not a list person, but when it comes to my dreams and goals I definitely am. I have a list of goals for every year since I can remember, what I accomplished in 2016 and what I will accomplish in 2017.

I want to be kind, I really do. Kindness matters, I know this, I coach this, I speak about the power of kindness, and yet -- yes, and yet.

In my primary relationship (you know, that relationship with my husband), being kind seems to be in a wrestling match with being right. Being right just feels so good. It is a lustful emotion, an instinctual one, a need that can be sort of addiction.

I was involved as one of the founding co-hosts of the The Courage To Come Back Awards 17 years ago. In lieu of the courageous recipients of the awards last night, I found this note that I wrote many years ago.

I was looking to get in better shape and enjoy a new athletic challenge when I joined a triathlon group two years ago. Little did I know I was going to become a part of a supportive community that I now look forward to meeting with on a regular basis.

I get excited about Bell Let's Talk day. It's a day when we give ourselves permission to have open conversations about mental illness. Kudos to Clara Hughes and the team who championed this initiative from the start, and in a few short years pried the conversation about mental health wide open.

It took vision and courage to create this national campaign at a time where very few high-profile Canadians were talking about mental illness. It still takes courage to talk about mental illness.

I wonder if the tide is turning about Christmas. This year, it seems that more is being written about putting the meaning back in Christmas. This is pretty dicey territory, because Christmas does in fact have different meaning for different people.

To many, Christmas marks the birth of Christ in a manger, with the three wise men and the sheep and the goats and the cow -- oh ya, and Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. Most of us know the story, but is that what most of us are actually celebrating at Christmas?

When my son asked my advice on what courses to enrol in during his first year of University I didn’t even have to think. “Take some courses you think will be interesting, if you are lucky there will be a course that will blow the top of your head off, something that will leave you astounded and amazed at the way people think, or angry at the injustices of the world, or inspired by people’s courage. This is how I felt about philosophy and women’s studies during my first two years of university; I would leave class almost shaking with excitement at what I had just been exposed to.

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Unsinkable: A Memoir

A surprising and inspiring story of courage, perseverance and the triumph of the human spirit.

Just ten weeks before the 1992 Olympic Games, Silken Laumann, the reigning world champion in single sculls rowing, suffered a brutal accident that left her right leg shattered and useless. Doctors doubted that she would ever... more

What I'm Reading

UNSINKABLE: MY UNTOLD STORY

Author: Silken Laumann

Yes, I am reading my own book. Unsinkable, my untold story, which is a book of the trials and tribulations, the joys and insights, of my life thus far. There are tough parts about my family...